The Supreme Court has refused John Rooney an extension of time to appeal directly from the High Court against Ireland and the Attorney General. The determination was delivered on 22 July 2015.
On 4 July 2013, the High Court (Feeney J) dismissed Mr Rooney's proceedings. It found they disclosed no reasonable cause of action, were frivolous and vexatious, and were an abuse of the process of the court.
The dispute goes back to 1984, when reactor cattle were removed from his herd. He claimed the compensation scheme should have been provided for by statute. Those issues had been decided in two earlier cases that ended in the Supreme Court.
Mr Rooney's application reached the Supreme Court office on 24 April 2015. He said he had meant to appeal and that personal circumstances, including his mother's illness, had caused the delay.
The Supreme Court found no satisfactory evidence that he intended to appeal within the time allowed. It also found no satisfactory explanation for the delay from the summer of 2013, and no arguable ground of appeal.